Huge, huge, huge article in PS3 Magazine, I'll link to some scans. The biggest deal is that one of the pages specifically states that Kaiden/Ashley are squadmates, as are Garrus and Liara. Not just cameos, but squadmates. They also show an image with the new squaddie James Sanders, and it's a still of the guy with the sniper rifle from the London trailer (I thought Bioware had already debunked this?).

Looks like it's been delayed just a shade. Which is probably a good thing

Quote:

Originally Posted by ME2 Facebook

Mass Effect 3 will be released in the first three months of 2012. The development team is laser focused on making sure Mass Effect 3 is the biggest, boldest and best game in the series, ensuring that it exceeds everyone’s expectations.” - Casey Hudson, Executive Producer Mass Effect series

ME3's the cover story in June's PC Gamer. I've heard (cough) you may find scans here. Here are details borrowed from elsewhere on the net:

Quote:

Tali is confirmed squadmate
"Garrus, Liara, Kaidan, Ashley and (newly confirmed) Tali are all full
time members of your team if they survived the previous games."

-Wrex?
"I asked point blank about Wrex and got as close to a 'no' as Ithink Bioware will come at this early stage:exceutive producer Casey Hudson simply re-emphasised that such characters canplay a role and fight alongside you without necessarily being permanent squad members."

-No new LIs in ME3

-Biotics are more potent in combat
"Biotics can use their Pull ability to rip a shield out of someone's hands"

-Multi Layered combat areas
"The games combat spaces have graduated from the often-familiar open areas dotted with low walls. They're now multi layed encouraging you to seek high ground for a better vantage point...[the rest is about Cerberus rocket boot dudes using this to their advantage]

-Powers Evolve more than once
"In ME3 this is just the start. A Vanguard player can customise their devastating Charge move first to slam people harder, then do more damage, then to reduce the cooldown.

-Powers combine
Example given with Soldier: "Soldier still has an arcing attack called Concussive Shot, but it now behaves differently depending on the ammo ugrade he/she is using. Cryo ammo lets you use that same trajectory to deliver a blast of ice that canfreeze every enemy in the area."

-Story is more like ME1 than ME2

-Places being visited (at least what the Magazine reports):
...mission takes you to the Salarian homeworld, the Quarian homeworld, the Asari homeworld, and the human homeworld - Earth. You'll even go to Mars ...

-Every major character you have met will play a role in the last game.

-Reaperized enemies include Asari, Krogan, Rachni
"In Mass Effect 3 we'll fight the Reapers other experiments, with other species.
One is a hideously bloated pregnant Asari, her gums stripped away and a robot skeleton showing through her rotting flesh"

"The Reapers take on the Rachni, who were already viscious insect monsters,are covered with bulging savs of lesser creatures. Rather than hitting their weak spot for massive damage, you want to avoid it like the plague: bursting any of these sacs before the creature is dead wit will unleash a swarm of horrible mini-rachni that crawl all over your body"

"The Reaperised Krogan wears heavy armor plates that can shear off with enough focused fire. Once you do the creature changes its behaviour to be more defensive clutching its lurid blue intestines to its stomach as its lumbers towards you"

Casey Hudson summarizing ME3 (This is an article quote):
"Casey sums up Mass Effect 3 as being about victory through sacrifice, the scale of that sacrifice has been increasing with each new chapter" [Rest is authors speculation about saving(or not saving) Wrex and Rachni consequences

-New enemy fighting patterns.

Enemies now have new gear and fighting patters like roit sheild to block shots and rocket boot to higher vantage points. Also, fights are now multilayered. The new rule for ME3 combat is Veteran is the new normal.

Sure, Mass Effect games have always looked like shooters, but they've never really played like them. Yeah, you pointed and shot at things, but the less tangible particulars of combat have always eluded BioWare's sci-fi epic. Gunplay in Mass Effect was a clunky exercise in behind-the-scenes dice rolls, RPG-style. Mass Effect 2's battles weren't the chore they often were in the original, but they weren't what anyone paid the price of admission for. The cover mechanic was limited in comparison to dedicated third person action games, and guns lacked any sort of oomph.

Quote:

It all felt like a different game, like a different series even. Where Mass Effect 2 felt like a slightly tighter Mass Effect combat-wise, Mass Effect 3 is in an entirely different space. The familiar elements that need to be there are intact - powers and talents are still in the same menu wheel structure, and weapon types remain unchanged. You're not going to select an assault rifle and be shocked by its looks. But you will be taken aback by how well it works. I was. And now the wait to play Mass Effect 3 until 2012 is that much harder.

I just heard from Geoff Keighley that Spike TV will be carrying your first look at the Mass Effect 3 E3 demo.

Geoff said that on Monday June 6 fans should tune into SPIKE TV for the first look at the Mass Effect 3 E3 demo. GAMECHANGERS : EA 2011 Preview will air LIVE on Spike TV next Monday, June 6 at 3:30pm ET/ 12:30 PT.

Make sure you tune in to Spike TV to catch your first look at Mass Effect 3 LIVE from E3!

It won't be easy. This is full blown galactic war and to many, the battle appears hopeless. How can any army possibly defeat the Reapers? Forget about earning the trust of individual allies -- you must unite warring factions to one purpose. Returning to Earth with anything less than a galactic armada would mean failure. In Mass Effect 2, you helped Jack deal with her past and tracked down Samara's daughter for a family reunion. Here, the stakes are higher and the importance of each mission is going to be greater.

One example of these unifying missions comes about halfway through Mass Effect 3. Shepard and crew have journeyed to the Salarian homeworld, Sur'Kesh, to rescue a Krogan princess. Yes, she's crazy hot. The princess in question is the key to uniting a divided Krogan homeworld. Mordin Solus is assisting (it is his home planet after all), and naturally the Krogan clan leader Wrex Urdnot has quite an interest in the princess.

But wait, is that team even possible in your version of Mass Effect 3? This is where the branching paths of the first two games begin to really affect the final battle against the Reapers. What if you killed Wrex in the first game? What if Mordin died at the end of Mass Effect 2? What if you gave thumbs up to the Genophage? It's unclear how these choices affect the missions -- maybe losing Mordin just means another character is there in his place -- but in some cases the differences should be significant.

Mass Effect 3 Executive Producer Casey Hudson says that "all things contribute to the war effort." Meaning every major decision from the first two games has an impact. The relationships you've built, and those you need to build going forward, matter.